Egyptian security forces have fired tear gas and exchanged gunfire with armed groups in the Kerdasah district on the outskirts of Cairo.

Egyptian soldiers and civilian reporters take cover behind an armoured personnel carrier in the Kerdasa district in Giza, south of CairoPhoto: EPA/AHMED KHALED

By Reuters

11:57AM BST 19 Sep 2013

Security troops stormed into the area to arrest people accused of torching police stations and killing about 11 security officers in clashes that erupted following the army's removal of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July. Police forces had not been allowed in Kerdasah since then.

In the latest incident, an Egyptian police officer was reportedly shot dead.

Egyptian soldiers take cover behind an armoured personnel carrier in the Kerdasa district of Giza, south of Cairo (EPA)

At least one police officer was injured in the violence, state TV reported. It said police forces took control of the area and imposed a curfew.

Separately, several metro lines were halted in the capital after two unexploded bombs were found on the tracks in a south Cairo station, security officials said. The bombs were later found to be a hoax.

Bomb experts were dispatched to the scene and were combing the tracks for more devices, one official said.

An Egyptian soldier shouts orders as security forces keep watch during an operation against gunmen in the Kerdasa district of Giza, south of Cairo (EPA)

Mr Morsi's exit was triggered by mass protests that led counterprotests nationwide. Violence between his supporters and security forces included massive attacks on police stations, security officers and churches.

At least 1,000 people have died in the violence with most deaths coming during the security forces' dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo on Aug. 14. About 100 police officers also died in the clashes.

Egyptian soldiers wait for instructions as they gather in a street in the Kerdasa district of Giza, south of Cairo (EPA)

Nearly 2,000 Islamist activists and politicians have been arrested since Mr Morsi was deposed.

Kerdasah, a fabric district, is 9 miles from Cairo and known to be an Islamist stronghold. Residents of the area said on Wednesday they were not in control of the district but did not want police there.

"We don't trust them as we know they will come to arrest people we know and respect whom they blame on the violence that we know was done by outsiders, not by our respectable sheikhs," Ahmed Aly, a resident, said.

(EPA)

Egyptian security forces had last Monday stormed the town of Delga in Minya province, about 300 km south of Cairo, clearing barricades that was set by Mursi's supporters there who were almost in control of the town. Forces arrested 56 residents.